Thorns and Roses
by MegTDJ
Summary: Missing scene for Need. Janet gets an unexpected visit. Eighth in the Love Comes Softly series.


Title: Thorns and Roses  
Author: MegTDJ  
Category: Missing scene; drama  
Rating: K+  
Pairing: Daniel/Janet friendship  
Spoilers: Need  
Summary: Missing scene for Need; Janet gets an unexpected visit. #8 in the Love Comes Softly series.  
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1, its universe and its characters are not mine. The story itself is, however, so please don't archive without my permission.

Author's notes: Before anyone says it... yes, I realize that aside from a few bumps and bruises, Janet was probably fine after her run-in with crazy!Daniel in Need. For the sake of this story, let's just pretend she wasn't, okay? ;)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

**Thorns and Roses**

Janet wanted to scream when she saw the mess Leroy had made of the garbage. This just hadn't been her week.

It took her a few minutes, but she somehow managed to tidy the dog's mess up working with only one hand. Her left arm was still in a sling to prevent further aggravating her shoulder after completely dislocating it three days earlier, and it was starting to drive her insane. "Patience, Janet," she reminded herself. "Shoulders heal."

She just wished it would heal faster.

Just as she finished cleaning up and was about to sit down, there was a knock at the door.

Now she really wanted to scream. "Who the hell is that?" she muttered as she made her way to the door. "If it's somebody trying to sell me something, I swear I'll..."

She stopped dead when she opened the door and saw Daniel Jackson standing on her porch looking more like a lost puppy than she'd ever seen him. "Daniel," she said, trying to force a smile. "What brings you here?"

"I... I, um..." Daniel stammered. He sighed and pointed to the open doorway. "Can I...?"

Janet mentally kicked herself for forgetting her manners. "Of course," she said, opening the door wider. "Come in."

Daniel nodded and gingerly walked past her and into the house. Janet couldn't help but notice that he kept his back turned away from her as he did so, and at least one of his hands had been behind him the whole time. The way he was acting was rather unnerving.

Of course, just the memory of their last encounter was enough to make her uncomfortable anyway...

_"Okay, Daniel..." Janet said with a sigh. She took out her penlight and pried one of his eyes open to get a look at his pupils._

Before she knew what was happening, she was flying through the air. Daniel had somehow broken free of his restraints, grabbed her arm, and threw her over his cot and against the wall as though she were no more than a rag doll. She barely had the chance to cry out in pain and fear before she hit the wall and everything went foggy.

When she came back around, it was to the sound of Daniel's angry grunts as he pounded the guard's face in...

"Um... I just... I came to... apologize," Daniel said, looking and sounding even more nervous than ever.

Janet shook her head. "There's no need to apologize, Daniel," she said. "I know you weren't yourself..."

"I was," he cut in. "I was myself, I just... the desire to go back to the sarcophagus was so strong..."

"I know," Janet said softly. "I do understand, and again, there's no need to apologize. You're back to normal, my shoulder is healing... everything turned out okay."

Daniel wetted his lips and nodded slowly. "Yeah," he said. "But I, uh... I brought you..." He pulled his hand around in front of him to reveal a bouquet of six yellow roses.

Janet's breath caught in her throat and tears filled her eyes at the sweet gesture. "Daniel... you didn't have to..."

"Yes, I did," Daniel said, pushing them towards her so she had no choice but to take them. "After the way I hurt you, and the things I said to you..."

Janet took the flowers and held them up to her nose as she took a deep breath. "Daniel, you pretty much snapped at everybody," she said. "I didn't take it personally."

It occurred to her as she spoke that she should probably cross her fingers while she told this little white lie. She didn't take it personally _now_, but at the time...

_"Look, will you just listen to me? I'm fine!"_

"I'm not so sure you are," Janet said, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him her strictest glare. "I'm not asking you to stay in the infirmary around the clock, Daniel, I just want someone to keep an eye on you to make sure..."

"I don't need a babysitter, for God's sake. I just need to get out of here!" Daniel jumped down from the infirmary bed and started for the door, but Sam cut him off. Realizing she wasn't going to let up, Daniel gave an exaggerated sigh and turned back to Janet. "How long?" he asked. "How long do I have to be cooped up here on the base with a chaperone?"

"At least twenty four hours," Janet replied.

Daniel laughed and paced a few steps away from the two women. "God, you can be such a bitch sometimes," he mumbled.

Janet blinked in disbelief and glanced over at Sam to see if she'd heard. Sam didn't show any sign that she had, so Janet felt she must have just imagined it. "What... what did you just say?" she asked.

Daniel swung around to face them again. "I said, 'Guess I'll be sleeping on the base tonight,'" he said. "Come on, Sam, let's get out of here."

Janet gaped at him as Daniel stormed out of the infirmary with Sam following close behind.

"Dr. Fraiser?"

"Hmm?" Janet shook her head slightly at the sound of Daniel's voice and snapped back to the present.

"I said you're right," he said. "I did say some pretty... horrible things to just about everybody that crossed my path the last few days, and I've already apologized to everyone else. I just didn't get a chance to see you after... you know... after I... flipped out." He forced a smile and shrugged, obviously trying to hide his embarrassment and shame over his behaviour. "I just... I'm very sorry."

"Well, I appreciate the apology," Janet said. "And it's accepted. Thank you."

Daniel smiled in relief and nodded. Then he looked down at his hands like he was about to say more but couldn't quite figure out how to start.

"Is there something else?" Janet asked.

Daniel knocked his fists together and slowly blew out a nervous breath. "I, um... I'm going back to P3R 636 in the morning," he said.

Janet's jaw dropped in surprise. After all of this, he was just going back anyway? And General Hammond was allowing it? "What... how... why?" Janet stammered.

Daniel's eyes widened at her reaction. He quickly held up his hands, shook his head, and said, "No, no, don't get the wrong idea... I'm not going back for the sarcophagus. I just... I think we could really help these people... especially Shyla. Her father is dying, and soon she'll have to take his place, and... well, I really don't want her to become what her father became... what _I_ almost became." He sighed as his voice trailed off and made a hopeless gesture with his hands. "Do you understand?"

Janet nodded slowly. "Will you be staying?"

Daniel seemed confused and almost hurt by this question. "No, of course not," he said. "Well... if I manage to convince Shyla to destroy the sarcophagus, I'll probably stay until she's come through the withdrawal. She was on the verge of suicide when I first met her, and now..." He shook his head. "I just want to help her," he finished quietly.

Janet took another deep breath, the smell of the roses almost calming. "Well, I think that's very valiant of you, Daniel," she said.

"You do?"

Janet smiled. "You always want to help everyone else, no matter what the cost to yourself," she said. "Unfortunately, that tendency seems to get you into a lot of trouble."

Daniel smiled sadly and looked down at the floor.

"Just don't let this get you into even more trouble than it already has," Janet said, allowing more emotion to creep into her plea than she'd intended.

Daniel raised his eyes to look at her, and they were full of so much pain and regret that it made her want to cry. "I won't," he said. "I promise."

Janet wasn't sure what to say next, as the only words that were coming to her mind were, 'Don't go! It's stupid to take such a risk so soon after what you've been through!' The silence that inevitably followed was anything but comfortable. Daniel shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the floor, while Janet stared at her roses without even blinking. She mentally kicked herself for being such a bad hostess, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to say or do anything.

A few moments later, Daniel shuffled his feet nervously and took a step towards the door. "Well, I should be going," he said. "Jack invited me to stay at his place tonight, since I'm still not supposed to be on my own for more than a couple hours."

Janet gave him a sympathetic look, as he didn't sound too happy about this. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling so much better," she said as she walked him to the door. "Good luck with your mission tomorrow."

Daniel nodded and stopped with his hand on the door handle to look at her. "When will you be heading back to work?" he asked.

"Probably next week," Janet replied. "I just needed to give my shoulder a rest for a few days. It'll be okay soon enough."

Daniel winced and looked away. "Again, I'm really sorry I hurt you like that," he said. "I'm still having nightmares about it."

Janet passed her bouquet into her left hand so she could lay her free hand on his arm. "Don't," she said. "Don't think about it. It's in the past... it's forgotten."

Daniel looked into her eyes for a long moment, and it was only then that Janet noticed how tired and defeated he looked. After what he'd been through the past few days, she wasn't surprised. She felt terrible for moping about her own problems earlier.

She wished there was something she could do for him to make everything alright, but she realized the only thing she could really do was be a friend. A listening ear. A shoulder to cry on, if the need arose.

And suddenly, it seemed that the need had arisen.

As he was standing there looking down at her, something in Daniel seemed to crumple. His eyes were dry of tears, but she could tell that he was aching so badly deep inside that he was about to explode. He didn't even have to speak his thoughts for her to know what was troubling him - not only had he hurt his friends both emotionally and physically, but he had also betrayed his wife. After seeing the way he'd reacted before in similar situations that were completely beyond his control, she could only imagine how he must be feeling now.

Without saying a word, Janet raised her hand to the back of his neck and gently pulled him down until his head rested against her good shoulder. He didn't resist her in any way - in fact, his arms were soon wrapped loosely around her, too. Somehow they managed to settle into a warm, comforting embrace without it feeling inappropriate, and without encroaching on each other's personal space. Janet wasn't sure whether Daniel was keeping his body so far away from hers because of the roses that were between them or because of her injury, but whatever the reason, she didn't mind. She was just glad he seemed so open to leaning on her like that.

After a minute or two, Daniel sighed. "Thank you," he said, his voice muffled as his face was still pressed into her shoulder.

Janet stroked the back of his neck gently. "You're welcome."

Daniel stood up straight then and wiped his face with his sleeve, even though he still hadn't shed any tears. "Sorry for, um..." He wasn't quite sure how to finish that sentence, so he made a vague motion with his hands and then raised them to straighten his hair.

"It's okay," Janet said. "I've told you before, you can come to me any time."

Daniel nodded and forced a smile. "Thanks," he said. He turned and fumbled for the door handle again. "I'll see you later," he said as he opened the door.

"Yes, just as soon as you're finished up on P3R 636," she said, trying to make her tone sound light and optimistic.

Daniel ducked his head and stepped out onto the porch. "Yeah," he said. "Tell Cassie hi for me, okay?"

Janet smiled. "I'll do that," she said. "Bye, Daniel. And good luck."

Daniel gave her a nod of silent thanks and jogged down the front steps towards his car.

Janet stood at the door until he'd entered his car and driven away. Then she closed the door and walked slowly to the kitchen to find her roses a vase.

Her thoughts were on Daniel and his latest ordeal as she worked on clipping and arranging the flowers, and with the added frustration of having to work one-handed, it wasn't until the arrangement was complete and she was gathering up the paper wrapping to throw it away that she noticed they had come with a note. She opened the little envelope, pulled out the card, and read aloud:

_"Roses are a lot like people - they may look nice and innocent from a distance, but if you get close enough, you often find that underneath they're full of thorns. Still, the thorns are easily overlooked if the rose is held just right. I sincerely hope you can forgive me for what I did to you, and that you will overlook my weaknesses and flaws and still be my friend._

D.J."

Janet wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, so she settled for doing a little of both. "Daniel Jackson," she said with a shake of her head. "You still don't realize how much people care about you, do you?"

She set the little card in the place of honour on the mantelpiece and sent up a quick prayer to whoever was listening that Daniel's return to P3R 636 would go smoothly, and that soon he would be back home where he belonged.

The End


End file.
